


Tears of the Maker

by PoisonPrince



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 18:04:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7278313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonPrince/pseuds/PoisonPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Warden Surana had disappeared. Most people weren't even sure she was alive. She had vanished without a trace, leaving the people of Thedas without a hero. The Temple of Sacred Ashes was destroyed, and a new hero appeared, or so it seemed. Few connected the clues, and those who did hardly spoke of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Varric Tethras

**Author's Note:**

> This story is going to be told in various perspectives, which are going to be the chapter titles. A few chapters will be in Varric's perspective at the beginning, so be prepared.

Varric knew who Cassandra’s prisoner was as soon as he set eyes on her. The art didn’t do her justice. The warden was portrayed as a tall woman, pale too. Much more like Andraste than she actually was. The woman in front of him was nothing like those pictures except for her steely gaze. She was much shorter, her brown skin standing out against her thick, blonde hair. The warden had an air about her, something that put him on edge. It could've been the way her gold-green eyes seemed to go straight through everything she looked at or that she was rather muscular for an elf.

Her ear twitched when she spoke to Solas. Fenris used to do the same thing when Anders was pissing him off. “Varric Tethras, at your service,” he decided to introduce himself, wearing a wide grin. 

“It’s good to meet you,” she replied, extending a hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You may reconsider that stance, in time,” Solas snorted. She shot him another nasty look, but kept quiet.

“Ah, I’m sure we’ll get to be great friends in the valley, Chuckles,” Varric said with a wry smile.

“No! Absolutely not!” Cassandra burst out. She looked completely outraged.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed Seeker, but your soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You need me,” he pointed out. She groaned and Varric saw the warden laugh. Good. The expression she had on her face was miserable, but he couldn’t blame her. She’d gone through some shit.

“We should get moving,” the warden piped up, walking towards the bank. She pulled her scarf up over her head and mouth, fastening it with a simple pendant. It reminded him of one that Blondie had. She held her staff sort of like him too, now that he thought of it. Using it like a walking stick and wielding it like a polearm during a fight. It was a bit creepy, but Anders did mention he was a warden. Maybe they’d known each other.

“So, uh, are you guilty?” He finally asked. It’d be a pretty crazy twist if the Hero of Fereldan murdered the Divine.

“I don’t know,” she answered simply. It didn’t seem to worry her at all. Honestly, Varric shouldn’t have been surprised. She’d been accused of treason before and in the process managed to end a curse, stop an annulment, save a village, reverse a possession, and fight through the Deep Roads. This was probably pretty small for her.

“If I were you I would’ve lied, spun a story. Much less likely to lead to premature execution.” He said.

“Of course you would have,” Cassandra muttered. 

“Demons!” The warden called from ahead of the group, spinning her staff and slamming it into the ground. Electricity melted a glyph into the snow and lightning shot forth, arcing from demon to demon. Solas threw up a barrier quickly, but the warden was having none of it. She was like the lightning that came from her staff, whirling around the battlefield. Somewhere along the trip towards the camp she’d gotten a dagger, maybe stolen from one of the soldiers or taken from the houses she’d looked for survivors in. She used it just as well as her staff, stunning demons with a spell and then killing them with the blade.

“You are rather good with a dagger,” Solas commented.

“I trained with swords for a while. Daggers are hardly different,” she replied, pulling down her now blood soaked scarf.

“It is rather uncommon to find a mage trained with weapons,” Cassandra added.

“It’s also rather uncommon for an elf to put faith in the Chantry, yet here I am,” the warden said flatly.

“You never really had a choice in that,” Varric pointed out. The warden laughed, actually amused.

“That’s funny. If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be,” she was smiling, but it wasn’t a happy smile. It was murderous, aimed at Cassandra. “I’ve been trapped before, but their cage didn’t hold me. I doubt yours would either.” With that she stalked off, resembling a wild cat, or some predator at least. Damn, how was he the only one that recognized her? Everything about her screamed ‘Warden!’.

There was a rift in front of the gate. Of course there was a rift, that was just their luck. The warden didn’t even bother to pull her scarf over her face this time, tearing through the demons like it was nothing. One ripped into her side and she started glowing way too much like Blondie did and threw it aside like a ragdoll. That couldn’t be a warden thing, could it? He was definitely getting details later. Cassandra took care of the demon and after she sealed the rift, Solas rushed over. 

“Let me he-” 

“I can heal myself, thank you,” she cut him off. The hand she pressed onto the wound started glowing, sealing the skin. She swore under her breath, hanging onto her staff more than before. “I’ll be fine.”

“What was that?” Cassandra demanded.

“I called upon a spirit. He’s also the spirit I use for healing,” the warden explained, pushing the door open. She stumbled when it went a little too far. “I haven’t called on him in a while. It’s. . . rather draining.” 

“A spirit healer as well? You must be rather talented,” Solas said, actually interested. Of course he would be interested, it was magic.

“I don’t like to brag,” the warden said, falling next to a box of supplies. She groaned and sat up, digging in the crate for something. She apparently was looking for lyrium. She pulled out a bottle of the stuff, blue and glowing. Before she could lift it to her lips, Cassandra grabbed her wrist. 

“What are you doing?” She asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion. 

“Making it so that I don’t collapse after three more steps. Do you want me to be able to close the Breach?” The warden answered, her brow furrowed. She only got a wrinkle on one side of her mouth when she frowned. Cassandra hesitated, but released the warden’s hand. Almost immediately after drinking the lyrium, she stood up as good as new.

She chose to take the straightforward route, charge with the soldiers. She obviously wasn’t prepared to see Cullen. The minute he opened his mouth she went pale and her green eyes were practically the size of plates. She managed to squeak out ‘hello’ when he turned his attention to her rather than Cassandra.

“I hope they’re right about you,” Cullen said.

“I hope so too,” the warden mumbled, tripping over her words. Did she know Cullen? Varric had to find out. Cassandra motioned for them to move on and for the first time since he’d joined the little band, the warden lagged behind. She actually looked worried, fiddling with her necklace. Varric slowed down until her met her pace, hoping that he could get something out of her.

“I don’t think I ever caught your name,” he broke the silence.

“Merria Su- Lavellan,” She answered, nearly slipping her actual name.

“I already figured it out,” Varric replied, glancing up at her. Her eyes went wide again. That’s why she got nervous around Cullen. She was worried he would recognize her. “You and Curly knew each other, huh?” It took a minute, but she nodded.

“We knew each other in the Circle. He and I didn’t part on good terms,” Surana said. 

“Seeing how he was in Kirkwall, I’m not surprised,” Varric chuckled.

“You knew him in Kirkwall?”

“Pfft, Hawke and I were probably his least favorite citizens. Especially after his comment on mages not being people. Hawke never let that one go.”

“We are approaching the temple! I would suggest making haste!” Solas called. Surana smiled and did some weird mage-y shit, glowing blue and zipping forward into the ruined temple.

“You made it!” Varric heard Leliana say. Surana’s eyes turned to saucers again. This woman was going to give herself away just with those expressions.

“Can someone tell me how I’m getting up there?” Surana asked, gesturing towards the hole in the sky.

“No, this rift was the first. It is the key to sealing the Breach,” Solas said.

“So, I close that and the Breach goes away? That simple?” Surana looked at him skeptically.

“No. It could kill you,” he answered. 

“There’s the catch I was looking for. Well, what are we waiting for?” Surana started moving before she even finished her sentence. She moved fast, giving even Cassandra a hard time keeping up with her. She ignored everything until they’d found their way down into the main crater. Images appeared in the sky and Cassandra immediately turned on the elf.

“What was that?” She shouted.

“I don’t know,” Surana stated, eyeing Cassandra’s hand. It was on the hilt of her sword now and Surana’s own hand was edging towards her dagger.

“It doesn’t matter,” Solas interrupted. “What matters is whether or not we seal the Breach. You’ll have to reopen the rift to seal it correctly. It will draw attention from the other side.”

“That means demons! Be ready!” Cassandra warned the scouts lining the crater. When Surana opened the rift there was a sound like tearing paper and then the biggest demon he’d seen crawled out of it. 

“Pride!” Surana barked before zipping off again, straight through the demon. She left an elf shaped patch of frost where she passed through it and when she stopped she automatically turned and threw a fireball at the ice coated patch. It hardly did anything and the demon cackled. Then it started talking to her. Not anyone else, just her.

“I remember this one. It was thrown to me by the templars, saved by Protection. That one is not here to save you now, I will take you and your power,” the demon taunted. “I will make this one something to be revered.”

“I don’t want reverence!” Surana yelled. “And I don’t need Protection anymore!” She let an arc of lightning fly, striking the demon. Cassandra was attacking its legs, but doing little more than annoying it. After what felt like an hour of arrows bouncing off the demon and ineffective spells, Surana raised her hand towards the rift and pulled a thread of bright green energy. The demon shrieked and she grinned. “Out of your element, eh Mouse?” 

She was the first to strike the demon, a glyph appearing in front of her chest and sending shards of ice flying into its hide. A dozen arrows stuck in its side and when it raked at Cassandra it snapped the shafts like toothpicks. He saw Solas setting up barriers quicker than they could be destroyed, only moving to dodge the occasional swipes at him. A demon caught him by surprise, tearing through his leg. Surana swore and tried to heal him from across the battlefield, only half succeeding.

Varric heard an ear piercing scream and turned to see Surana with a demon ripping into her spine. It must have caught her by surprise and was doing serious damage. He swore he could see bone. Leliana dispatched it quickly, sprinting over to the elf and pulling her up. Even a few yards away, Varric could see Surana’s chest heaving and the blood streaming down her back and staining her clothing. Her hands shook as she cast, a billow of translucent magic flowing over her. The bleeding slowed until it finally stopped and she nearly fell over, clinging to Leliana for support.

Cassandra was the one to finish the demon. She had shoved her sword into its chest and twisted, spraying its blood everywhere. It toppled and nearly crushed her beneath it. Surana hobbled just close enough to the rift to close it. She raised her hand, the stream of light connecting it to the rift. She kept standing for about three seconds and collapsed, hitting the ground with a thud that made Varric cringe.

“Maker’s breath, did that actually kill her?” He asked, panic written in his voice.

“No,” Leliana responded quickly. “She is still breathing. She needs healing though, her wound may reopen and we don’t know how much energy she used.”

Cullen came rushing down into the crater, an array of soldiers at his heels. “The Breach hasn’t been sealed? What happened?” He questions, looking to everyone for answers before seeing the elf crumpled on the ground and Leliana kneeling beside her. “By the Maker, is she dead?”

“No,” Cassandra answered. “Cullen, carry her back to Haven, there’s an empty house for Adan to work on her in near the main gate.” Cullen nodded, picking her up like one would a toddler. He had her balanced on his hip with her arms wrapped around his neck. She mumbled something inaudible, but from the face Cullen made it was probably something he shouldn’t have heard.

“Will she be alright?” Varric asked after a moment of silence.

“I don’t know,” Leliana answered. Varric felt himself shudder, but followed those returning to Haven. Maker willing the warden wouldn't die.


	2. Varric

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates for this should be semi-regular, but I have summer reading and extra-curricular writing that I have to work on. That said, chapters will probably get longer later.

Surana hadn’t gotten back on her feet nearly as soon as Cassandra would have liked. Varric could tell that just by looking at the Seeker. He didn’t know why she’d expected the mage to get back up so quickly. She’d nearly gotten her spine torn out along with whatever she did to stop the bleeding and to close the rift. He’d be amazed if she’d ever be able to walk without help.

“At least she is awake, that is a start,” he heard Leliana say. She and Cassandra had been arguing for a good hour about Surana and what to do with her. It was driving him mad, but hearing she was awake was a good enough reason to visit her. Maybe he could get some answers. Varric noticed that most of the people milling around near Surana’s cabin were armed. None of them were mages either, at least none carried staffs that he noticed. There were two templars stationed outside the doors. One didn’t seem very happy with her job, arguing with the other.

“The Herald nearly died trying to seal the Breach, why should we be guarding her like she’s a blood mage,” she said, seething with anger. Her brow was furrowed and she was glaring at the man. They quieted when Varric walked past into the cabin. 

“Hey,” Surana smiled weakly when she saw him. She was sitting with a pillow under her back, leaning against the headboard of the bed. She looked bad, to say the least. There were rings around her eyes like she hadn’t slept at all, her skin was unhealthily pale, and her cheeks were gaunt.

“No offense, but you look like shit,” he replied. Surana laughed. It was more like a wheeze than a laugh though, and she immediately started coughing afterwards.

“Don’t make me laugh, I might start coughing up blood again,” she managed between coughs.

“Again?” Varric asked, a concerned look on his face. 

“The demon didn’t exactly give me a gentle pat on the back,” Surana gave another smile, this one a bit wider than the first. “Only person I know that could pat you on the back that hard was Sten.”

“Sten? He was the qunari you travelled with, right?” Varric raised his eyebrows. She nodded.

“Yeah, I think he’s someone important in Seheron or Par Vollen or wherever. Ari-something. The military one,” Surana explained. “I went with him for a little while. Let me tell you, I had never felt smaller in my life. Everyone there had biceps the size of my head.”

“The qunari in Kirkwall weren’t exactly as welcoming to outsiders. Hawke had to fight the Arishok there to keep them from converting the entire city,” Varric said.

“That’s, uh, a bit extreme,” she mumbled. Varric nodded.  
“They didn’t like how the viscount was dealing with things,” Varric shrugged it off. “But that’s enough about me. Everyone’s heard the stories of the Hero of Fereldan, but I want them from you.”

“I suppose I could share something. I’ve been going mad in here, not able to talk to anybody. Hm, I think one of my best stories is actually before I ended the Blight. It was actually right before the Landsmeet. Eamon, the arl that raised Alistair was most definitely not the best father figure towards him. Alistair obviously didn’t think so, but I saw it. Nobody should make a child sleep with dogs and I was livid. Especially after he wanted to make Alistair king.”

“So, on the ride to Denerim he had Alistair, Teagan, and I in a carriage with him because he wanted to discuss what was going to happen at the Landsmeet. I told him that Alistair didn’t want to be the king and that Eamon could shove it. He had different plans of course and called me some very unflattering things, ‘knife-ear’ being one of the kindest. And so, I put his head through the carriage door.”

“You did what?” Varric started laughing incredibly hard.

“I shoved his head through the door of the carriage. Alistair practically had to sit on me to get me to stop and Teagan decided it would be best if Eamon just didn’t talk to me for the rest of the trip. Since Eamon obviously didn’t like me, I made an effort to be as obnoxiously affectionate towards Alistair as possible just to annoy him,” she finished, a smug look on her face. She looked like the cat that ate the canary.

“That one was definitely new. Nobody ever tells you about the hot tempered Grey Warden. Usually it’s more along the lines of ‘And the Hero of Fereldan smited everyone like Andraste’,” Varric said. Surana snorted at the implication. 

“They even paint me like her. It’s kind of creepy, looking at you but not you. Not sure why they bother if they’re just turning me into a copy of Andraste. Pretty sure they paint Sten as Chasind or something too. Oghren doesn’t even get included,” she replied, a sour look on her face. Her brows furrowed and a thin wrinkle formed between them. “Ah, that’s enough of that, I want to hear about some of Hawke’s friends. They seem interesting.”

“You want the truth or what the book says?” Varric asked.

“Truth.” She answered quickly.

“Truth is we were all a bunch of misfits. I think you knew one of them. Name Anders ring a bell?” She looked confused for a moment before her face lit up.

“I remember Anders! He was hilarious. He and Justice disappeared one day, but I thought Justice’s body had finally fallen apart and Anders finally made his decision to go back to the Circle,” Surana replied.

“Wait, Justice had a body?” Varric was the one confused now. He’d thought Blondie always used Justice for his healing.

“Yeah, he possessed the corpse of a dead warden and I let him tag along and kill darkspawn to avenge the warden’s death. Nathaniel brought up something about Justice switching to a living host once, but he didn’t seem to happy about the idea.”

“That’s. . . kind of ironic actually. Anders ended up getting possessed by Justice.” 

“Wait, what?” Surana looks at him dead serious. 

“He’s not dead, they just kinda got rolled into one big ball of ‘mage rights or mage fights’,” Varric said hurriedly. She looked ready to stab someone.

“That idiot! What was he thinking, doing that? That must be why he wanted me to explain to him more about my relationship with Protection. That little shit! I swear. . .” The rest of her sentence was too quiet for him to understand, but from the way she looked at her blankets like she was going to set them on fire told him she was more than angry.

“I’m taking the fact that you look like your sheets mugged you as a sign to leave. Nice talking to you, warden,” Varric waved as he left. Blondie didn’t even bother telling his commander? Damn, and the fact that she took it so poorly probably meant she’d liked him.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry serah, I didn’t know you were in there,” a girl bumped into him and stumbled over her words. “Should I wait to give miss Lavellan her food?”

“It’s fine, kid. She needs to eat just like anybody else,” he said, looking up at the girl. She was an elf, actually looked like Surana if he was honest. Her skin was a shade or so lighter and her face was rounder because of her youth, but they looked like they could at least be cousins. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Korin, ser, Korin Velath,” she answered him swiftly, her voice shaking.

“What’s your family do Korin?” She looked even more nervous when he asked her that.

“M-my mum works in the kitchens and my da is a messenger. H-he’s not my sister’s da though, her da and my sister were taken to the Circle before I was born,” Korin stuttered. 

“What was your sister’s dad like, kid?” Varric continued. Korin at least stopped shaking, her red-brown hair looked a bit blonde where the sun hit it. 

“He was a mage, tall and real pretty according to my mum. Looked like he was straight out of Arlathan. She always told me I’d like him, she did. Said that if he was my da that I’d’ve gotten light hair ‘nd real dark skin,” Korin smiled just thinking of it. “I like to think my sister was like ‘im too.”

“Thanks Korin. Take care of yourself, kid,” Varric grinned at her, slipping a few silvers into her pocket as he walked away. Okay, maybe more than a few. It was at least ten. What could he say? He was a sucker for awkward elves that tripped over their words. Reminded him of Daisy. Especially the way she talked about the man before her dad. Merrill had done the same thing when she talked about the ancient elves, her eyes went wide and she got this big, dopey grin.

Maker, Varric missed them. Even Blondie. He’d fucked up, but he missed him. It seemed empty without him and Broody arguing about everything, including the weather. Isabela would’ve hated Haven though, just like she hated the Chantry. She’d’ve gotten under the Seeker’s skin though, which would’ve been worth it. Cassandra and Aveline though? They would get along just fine. Ugh, he shouldn’t have thought about it. He couldn’t help but think about the last letter Hawke sent him. He still had it folded up in his pocket.

When he unfolded the letter, which was really just a scrap of parchment with writing on it, he noticed something new. Hawke never used his full name for anything unless something was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who Korin is related to :3c


	3. Cullen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than the others mostly because I was writing as Cullen and I usually ignore him in my playthroughs, so I can't characterize him well. He's relevant though, just you wait

The mage, Lavellan, took a while to recover. Her wounds should have healed faster with what Adan had done. He'd tried everything. Cullen objected when Leliana suggested finding a healer to fix it. The Veil was ripped open and she wanted to use magic? That was madness to him. Any moment the mages could turn into abominations and yet they were letting mages wander the camp like they were harmless. Thankfully, they listened to him when he suggested that templars be stationed outside of her door. That was a small comfort.

"Commander?" A soft voice asked. When he turned, Lavellan was standing there, leaning on her staff. She looked much better than she had in the days following her attempt to seal the Breach. Color had returned to her skin and her eyes were bright. "I was hoping that you had time to spar. I'm afraid that your soldiers would be injured if I tried with them."

"Are you sure this is wise? Your injuries-" She cut him off.

"My injuries have healed. Consider it. . . Rehabilitation," Lavellan suggested with a lop-sided smile. He swore he'd seen it somewhere before, he just couldn't place where. "If I get hurt, I can heal myself. I've had enough recovery time."

"Alright," Cullen sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He pulled off the vest with his mantle on it and turned to see her removing her thick coat, leaving her torso covered with a scarf and war paint. He felt his face go red, but glanced away.

"Commander, are you going to get your sword and shield or are we going to be fighting hand to hand?" She asked, raising one thick brow.

"Ah, hand to hand seems wisest for now," he answered after clearing his throat. Was she trying to distract him? He could barely move before her fist almost hit his jaw. He leaned away just before her hand connected.

"A bit slow Commander?" She grinned. The woman was relentless, not letting him get one move in that wasn't defensive. How she was so quick was beyond him.

"I suppose it's been a while since I've done anything like this," Cullen answered, dodging another blow. It surely would have broken his nose if it had hit him. He caught her next throw, pushing her back and away from him. He shouldn't be doing this, especially not trying to fight back. She was an injured woman that he could just smite if she tried to use magic on him. However, Cullen soon found himself countering her punches and going for his own, throwing his morals to the wind. If the mage wanted a fight, she would have one. And she seemed to enjoy that he was fighting back. Soon enough a group of the recruits surrounded them to watch, forming a ring around the two. Quite a few were cheering. Cullen thought he'd won when he managed to knock her down, but she stood quickly and darted past him, sweeping his feet out from beneath him and putting one hand on his chest. She shoved hard, throwing him to the ground. She made it clear she was triumphant when she sat on his chest.

"How does defeat taste Rutherford?" Lavellan asked, tilting her head to one side. Cullen's head was spinning and the weight on his chest didn't help any.

"Like I might have a mild concussion," he answered before she got off and helped him up. 

"I could help, if you do have one. I was trained as a healer," she offered, her hands already faintly glowing. He shook his head. No, he wouldn't let magic touch him. Not after what happened in Kinloch. Not after Kirkwall. "It won't heal quickly unless a healer helps you.

"I said no," Cullen snapped, glaring at her. The hurt on her face made him regret the decision and his expression softened. 

"Alright," she replied. Her voice was stiff as she gathered her coat and the staff she'd tossed aside earlier. "A pleasure, Commander." She smiled, but it seemed stretched, like it strained her to do so. Lavellan turned on her heel and walked away, keeping her head low. Maker, was Cullen an idiot. She was just trying to help.

"You sure know how to woo a woman Commander," a scout laughed from where he was leaning against one of the tent poles.

"Not now, Jim," Cullen groaned, putting his hand to his forehead. He didn't want to deal with Jim's heckling. He ducked into his tent, slumping into his chair and picking up the letter he'd been writing. It was to Surana, an apology. It was stupid and far too late to apologize. How do you apologize to someone you accused of being a desire demon trying to kill you? A good ten years had passed, even ignoring the fact that he'd said far too much at the time. Add that to the entirety of his time in Kirkwall, he couldn't see how she would ever be able to forgive him. He hadn't exactly improved with mages. No wonder Lavellan seemed so hurt by his refusal of healing. She didn't know about what happened, she couldn't have. To her he just seemed like an ungrateful human that feared magic like everyone else. Ugh, there was no mending that, now was there? He tossed the letter aside. It hurt his head to think about Surana too much.

He moved from the chair, little more than a glorified stool, to the cot at the side of the tent. It wasn't comfortable and he could have had lodgings in the town with everyone else, but he didn't want to. He saw how Leliana looked at him and it made him uncomfortable. He could never tell what she was thinking, whether she was afraid or not, if she was ever upset. She was the perfect Orlesian, wearing a mask even without the accessory. She was there when Surana had returned to Kinloch, she had seen everything. Leliana knew what made him like he is and still she scrutinized him. It made Cullen uncomfortable. Ugh, he just wanted to sleep. He'd cut how much lyrium he took, making him more tired. He shouldn't be thinking, he should be resting. Cullen couldn't help but think of the sadness in Surana's eyes as he drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted Surana to kick Cullen's ass lmao, also maybe future angst with Cullen, idk yet but there is potential for it with how this story is going


	4. Alistair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! A sneak peek of what I believe is going on with the Wardens and Alistair.

Alistair was completely unsure of the method that the Wardens wished to use. "Nathaniel, you don't see this as right, either?" He asked, eyeing the Howe beside him. Nathaniel shook his head. Alistair simply watched him fasten his leathers and pulled back his dark hair. "It's just that they want to use demons, I mean  _demons_ of all things. And they're trusting this Tevinter magister?"

"Alistair, wasn't there a time that Surana faked a deal with a demon? I can think of one time that I was in attendance for," Nathaniel replied. He stared at Alistair with his piercing, tired blue eyes.

"She ended up killing both of those! I don't trust this situation at all." Just as Alistair finished, Velanna and Sigrun walked in, side by side, poring over a letter.

"Alistair you may want to see this," Velanna said and Sigrun extended the letter, a worried look on their faces. Alistair took it quickly, reading as fast as he could. It was from Surana, it was dated from a few months prior, before the Conclave. She wrote of her talks with the Divine and the leaders of the factions. None of them went well. She expressed her worry about the presence of the Wardens. As the letter moved on the writing got messier and another date was written, a few days earlier, this time speaking of what happened at the Conclave. The Temple of Sacred Ashes had been destroyed, the Divine was dead, the Inquisition had been recreated, and she was subject to another world-saving mission.

"I need to go to her." Alistair decided, standing.

"No, remember she said in her letter that only Varric and Leliana know," Sigrun pointed out. 

"I believe we should return to Vigil's Keep, or perhaps Soldier's Peak," Velanna suggested. She sat primly on the bench and watched the door carefully. Nathaniel nodded in agreement.

"Well, how are we going to leave without anyone noticing us?" Sigrun asked, plopping down next to Velanna. "And if they did notice what excuse would we have?"

"Amell," Nathaniel answered. "We all know he isn't here because Surana wanted him to research how to reverse the effects of the Blight. If we say we're going to join him then they won't question anything." Alistair remembered Amell. As soon as the Blight was over, Surana conscripted him. He was sarcastic, a bit brash, and one of Surana's best friends in the Circle. She had asked him specifically to work with Avernus and find as much information as possible on reversing the Joining.

"Amell may have been recalled," Velanna said.

"Like he would answer," Nathaniel snorted. "He hardly let Surana recruit him." It was true, Amell had nearly slapped her when she suggested it.

"We should send him a letter. Maybe he'll be with Avernus. Edmund would know," Sigrun suggested. Edmund was the bird that Amell and Surana had always used for communication. 

"Warden Alistair." It was one of the Wardens of Adamant Fortress. "Warden Commander Clarel wishes to speak with you." 

"Of course," he replied. "I'll be there in a moment." The Warden nodded and left. The Ferelden Wardens, excluding the few that Surana had conscripted directly after the Blight, one from the alienage in Denerim, one in Dust Town, a noble hiding as a tavern girl, and a dwarven noble that was outcast and wrongly accused of fratricide, looked expectantly at Alistair.

"Alistair. . ." Velanna started.

"Gather the rest of the Ferelden Wardens, take them back to Soldier's Peak and see if Avernus and Amell have made any progress. Something is wrong here, stay safe and if you can find her, get to Surana," he ordered. Nathaniel nodded, the girl from the alienage clapped a hand on his shoulder, and the Duster glanced at him before nodding as well.

"If you die, I will bring you back just so that Surana could release her rage," Velanna threatened. Sigrun laughed a little.

"Stay safe Alistair," she said, her grin distorting her tattoos.

"I'll be careful Sigrun, don't worry. Make sure to take Barkspawn alright?" He said before he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say screw canon in this chapter, so that most the potential wardens are alive! Also I wanted to give an explanation of why the Ferelden Wardens were missing in DA:I


End file.
